


Cienfuegos

by WrathoftheStag (Mwuahna)



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: #HannibaLibre, Cienfuegos Series, HannibaLibre, Hannibal Loves Will, Hannigram - Freeform, M/M, Murder Husbands, Murder Husbands in Cuba, Post-Episode: s03e13 The Wrath of the Lamb, Religious Themes, Will Loves Hannibal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-25
Updated: 2016-11-25
Packaged: 2018-09-02 04:03:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8650621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mwuahna/pseuds/WrathoftheStag
Summary: Will prays for protection, and lives for his love of Hannibal.  A ficlet on Will and Hannibal's early days in Cienfuegos, Cuba, post Wrath of the Lamb.  Part of the Cienfuegos series.





	

**Author's Note:**

>   
>    
> 

Hannibal takes his _cafecito_ onto the terrace. His morning ritual remains the same: he undoes Will --- fervently some days, painfully slow on others, so much so that Will cries out for mercy. Then afterward, when the world has re-centered itself, Hannibal rises from their bed and makes them both coffee. A _cortadito_ for Will, _cafecito_ for himself. 

And it is while Hannibal is on the terrace sipping his coffee, admiring their morning sun, that Will comes out to join him after he has showered. The droplets from his wet hair collect on his bare shoulders, traveling down his back. Hannibal looks to Will, all scars and golden skin, and bends over to lick water off his clavicle.

Their small lavender colonial house sits tucked away in a section of a quiet bay overlooking a sleepy dock. Their boat, _El Perdón_ , bobs softly unaware that it is a constant reminder of the promise Hannibal and Will have made to one another. Forgiveness. Forgiveness. Forgiveness.

“Are you heading out to the cemetery?” Hannibal asked. Hannibal had his rituals, and Will had his own.

“Yes, I’ll be back in an hour. I cut some papaya for you.”

“Thank you.”

Will put his coffee down, then pulled Hannibal in from the waist. He pressed his nakedness into Hannibal, as Hannibal pressed a kiss into Will’s mouth. The instinct to deepen everything was always immediate, and urgent. 

Will smiled as he pulled away and said, “I’ll be back.”

“Please be careful,” Hannibal called out as he watched Will, confident and strong, walking into their home.

**+++**

Will rides his bicycle to the _Cementerio la Reina_ each morning, regardless of the weather. Once he hits Avenida 50, he can see it ahead of him. The cemetery is one of the first places Will discovered when they arrived in Cienfuegos. He had spent a day exploring on his own while Hannibal continued putting their home in order.

“Why Cienfuegos?” Will had asked.

“It reminds me of Paris in many ways. The architecture, the atmosphere, the lyricality in the air, the confidence of the food,” Hannibal replied as they unpacked their things in their new home. 

Hannibal had chosen Cuba because of its extradition laws. He wouldn’t lose Will again. Not again. He chose Cienfuegos because it was a nautical city, near boats, near water, and all the things Will adored. _El Perdón_ was Hannibal’s second gift to Will when they arrived. Before that there was a small doberman pup they quickly named Fufú after one of the meals they had in Cienfuegos. 

“Cienfuegos means one hundred fires,” Hannibal said as they sipped on some cuba libres on their terrace.

Fufú snored softly at their feet. 

“One hundred fires,” Will repeated. He watched the moonlit reflection of the unhurried waves glide across Hannibal’s face.

“I would ignite one hundred fires for you Will, and walk through them all if you asked me to.”

Hannibal grasped Will’s hand, and held it to his chest. Will could feel the rapid thumping of Hannibal’s heart just underneath his palm.

“I would never ask that of you...not now. You have nothing left to prove to me. I believe any and everything from you,” Will said quietly.

**+**

Will pulled up to the cemetery entrance and chained his bike to a fence. The elderly caretaker, Gonzalo, recognized Will and had grown fond of the man who came every morning without fail.

“ _Buenos días._ ” 

“ _Buenos días, señor_ ,” Will would call out.

La Reina reminded him of the cemeteries of New Orleans. The dead buried above ground, the mourners closer to those they loved and lost. On his first visit there, he casually strolled through the dilapidated cemetery seeing the various tombs of Spanish soldiers who died during the Wars of Independence. That’s when he discovered _La Bella Durmiente_ , the Sleeping Beauty. A marble statue for a girl who died in 1907 of a broken heart. 

There she sat not dead but asleep, a bouquet of poppies in her lap...dreaming of love. Will immediately felt a kinship with this girl. He wept for her heart, he wept for her sadness and loss, and saw what could have been -- and what could have easily become of his life. Will Graham was never a religious man but in that instant he created a goddess to watch over him and his beloved. 

Will prayed to her for protection, prayed to her for forgiveness, prayed to her for eternal love. She became his patron saint, his holy mother, and on his knees he devoted and dedicated his love for Hannibal to her and her memory.

_Santa Bella, Santa Durmiente._  
_Guide me in my love._  
_Protect Hannibal, keep him safe_. 

_I ask for your blessings._  
_Guide me in my love._  
_Protect Hannibal, keep him safe._

Will vows to come every day and pray to her, this 24-year-old girl who died of a broken heart.

**+++**

They mostly spend their days on _El Perdón_ ; Hannibal lays on the boat’s deck drinking in the sun and reading a book, while Will catches their dinner from the Caribbean sea. Dusk is spent walking along the Paseo del Prado; they talk about their childhoods, Hannibal quizzes Will on Spanish verb conjugations, they stop and smile at the young couples also taking walks tangled amongst themselves. 

Their nights are spent discovering one another again and again, neither one tiring of the other -- their skin, their scent, their taste, everything new and wondrous each time. There is nothing more beautiful to Will than the look on Hannibal’s face the instant he loses himself. Will imagines he will never tire of seeing that, or being the cause of it.

One evening, a neighbor down the street played the music of Beny Moré on an old stereo. “ _¿Cómo Fue?_ ” came drifting into their balcony.

Will leaned sleepily across the railing, listening, as the night breeze blew the warm salty air across his skin.

_¿Cómo fue?_  
_No sé decirte cómo fue._  
_No sé explicarme qué pasó_  
_pero de ti me enamoré._

Hannibal approached Will from behind and wrapped his arms around him, pressing a kiss into Will’s temple.

“What does this song say? I can get every other word, but not all of it,” Will said smiling as he leaned into Hannibal’s touch.

Hannibal listened and translated for Will, “How was it? I can't tell you how it was...I can't explain what happened. But I fell in love with you.”

Will smiled, “Ah, no wonder I like it.”

_Was it your eyes or your mouth?_  
_Was it your hands or your voice?_  
_Perhaps it was the impatience_  
_of waiting so long for your arrival?_  
_I don’t know..._

Hannibal held Will’s face and gently kissed him, every kiss another declaration of love and eternal devotion. Will in turn took each one as eagerly and willingly as a devout believer would take holy communion. 

_Santa Bella, Santa Durmiente, guide me in my love. Protect Hannibal, keep him safe_.

Will held on tightly to Hannibal as Beny Moré continued singing, and the Bella Durmiente blessed them from above.

**Author's Note:**

> The song “[¿Cómo Fue?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ojytcx7cabQ)” (It was a favorite of my mom's.)
> 
> [La Bella Durmiente](https://cienfuegospatrimonio.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/bella-durmiente.jpg).
> 
> [Fufú recipe](http://www.thecubanhistory.com/2012/08/cuban-cuisine-mashed-plantain-fufu-recipe-cocina-cubana-receta-para-un-fufu-de-platano-pinton/). In my head, Fufu is probably short for Encephalitis. Same dog, right? ;)
> 
> More on [Cuban coffee](http://www.miami.com/cuban-coffee-101-article).
> 
> Thanks to [Devereauxs_Disease](archiveofourown.org/users/Devereauxs_Disease) and [Victorine](archiveofourown.org/users/victorine) for giving it a look-see.


End file.
